nurses

[stokeace]

how can the government justify a below inflation wage rise for the nurses when we all know when their 'pay' rise is due it will be about 10% [again] it makes me sick.how about you?

[bednobs]

nurses have had a lot of payrises in the last few year, including for some of them a whopping amount under agenda for change. Newly qualified nurses now earn just under 20000 a year, which i think is an astonishing wage!
I get so annoyed when nurses whinge about their lot, because when compared to other jobs they get a lot! f they dont like it then get a diffeeent job

[stokeace]

mmmm an interesting stance but i still think they deserve more than a BELOW inflation pay rise.

[alijangra]

What nonsense bednobs! Whopping amount? Definately not. And as for your last statement, thats exactly what the experienced nurses are doing (including myself). Do you know what annoys me? People saying nurses are whingers. What jobs are you comparing it too? Nursing is a profession, most trained to degree level AND we have to pay every year to remain registered. Why is under �20000 an astonishing wage? Its under the national average and not enough to buy a shoebox ,nevermind get a mortgage. I cannot see why anyone would choose it as a career, I for one will no longer be taken for a mug and slog my guts out for peanuts.

[alijangra]

Also, an example of what is happening to newly qualified nurses...

http://society.guardian.co.uk/print/0,,3297155 02-105965,00.html

[Marvelman]

nurses and doctors are leaving this country in droves to countries that pay them double their salaries here, the NHS is going downbank fast, the govenment are spending billions in Iraq, gave Africa seven billion pounds this year, just given Pakistan 6 million, allowing immigrants to enter the country by the thousand getting free medical treatment, housing, and benefits that costs millions, no wonder our nurses and pensioners and many other people are given a raw deal by this govenment.

[jno]

the thing about the average wage is that some people will get more and some less (we can't all be above average, sadly). So should nurses get more or less? I'd say more.

[gina32]

what annoys me is more money is being spent on the diana inquest, its now going to court to see if it should be held in private or before a jury, for goodness sake lets drop the whole thing and spent the money thats being wasted on this on something like healthcare wages. patricia hewitt seems to think the incease is fair, wonder if she would think the same if she and her fellow cronies only got the same increase??

[Grunty]

For the amount that we are spending on our weapon of mass destruction, we could recruit 120,000 nurses every year for ten years.

[Grunty]

I should have said for the amount that we are spending annually

[ludwig]

If I had the chance again I'd be happy to go into nursing in the NHS. Obviously I'd be emigrating to Australia as soon as I qualified though.

[alijangra]

You and many others ludwig. Because of job cuts and poor wages, many nurses are heading overseas after training in this country at the cost of the taxpayer. On the argument of where nurses should be on the pay scale in this country I would like to be given an example of any other job where you have to attend university and be professionally registered which pays less or even the same as nursing.

[nantyboy]

I note there is (as always) enough money in the pot to pay the armed forces a pay increase of between 3.3 and 9.2 percent. Also there seems to be a bottomless pit of money to keep single teenage mothers on benefit and to pay tax credits to families who have two adults working.
This government has turned the decent hard working people of this country, and especially its own employees, into the villans. I intend to reflect my disssatisfaction at this at the next election.

[bednobs]

hmm, well i have to say i dont agree. I think nurses do get paid a good wage for what they do, what other graduates go into that level of wages right away?. There are loads of people who cant afford a shoebox or a mortgage, in fact i would say the majority of graduates are in the same position, plus they have their course fees to pay back, am im not sure nurses do now? (maybe they do,??) im not sure. They also have the benefits of working in the nhs (if they do) ie the pension scheme and generous sick leave. under 20000 might be below the national average, but you dont stay at that level, and can progress, unlike some other jobs.

[tigerlily11]

For what they have to deal with they earn every penny.
I suspect Bedknobs you would not be willing to do some of the things they have to do and put up with the sort of things they do for the money they get, I'm talking cleaning up after someone has vomited all over their clothes and everywhere else. (Something I know can't be helped somethimes) Emptying bed pans and cleaning the beds of any accidents. Dealing with abusive and dangerous people on a regular basis ( pateints and families of patients). Its not easy watching some one die. Its not easy dealing with people who are going to die knowing you can do nothing about dispite all you have learned. Yes you can say if you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen but I thank my lucky stars there are people out there who every day well deal with this side of human life.
I worked as a domestic in a hospital and regularly saw what they deal with and I know I couldn't do it.
It is only right that they be given some sort of thank you for being there when we need them.
To my mind a decent wage fits the bill.
Lets face when did any actor or footballer ever do anything to justify the amounts they get? Do they do a service that helps others the way nurses do? Would they give their time and energy to the service of others the way that nurses do?
It's often a messy and thankless job and lets hope in the future those who would deny them a good wage don't ever need them.

[gina32]

tigerlily, i work as a carer in a residential home and have to do all the things you mention, clearing vomit, watch people die take abuse, clear up any other sort of mess the list goes on, i get under �6.00 and hour sometimes we only have 2 on shift and we have to care for 22-25 people, i know nurses do more and i agree they deserve what they get but there are aslso other jobs that deserve more

[johnny37]

20 grand does seem quite generous for a newly qualified graduate. Can anyone quote the pay scale? And be honest, what is the average earnings of a nurse after say 10 years with all the extras for specialist knowledge? I have to say i attend several different types of clinic and the nurses that have to take your blood pressure and other clinic type functions do not seem to have to work too hard.

[bednobs]

tiger lilly, thats where i dont understand. i dont understand why people think clearing up sick and poop means you deserve loads of money. To be honest most people going into the profession know about the sick and poop aspect, and are oj with it. Ok so other people might not want to clear it up, but those people dont become nurses. Also, it dosent take graduate wages to clear up sick as can be seen by the carer who responded. cleaners also have to clear up human excrement, but they dont threaten to strike. Also, i dont really understand why nurses are singled out as poor. physio's ot's and other related prfessions get a similar wage, but you dont hear them going on in the same way. I think nurses do use thesympathy aspect/stereotypes as a bargaining tool. I also wonder sometimes when people compain about the wages, didnt they know this before they started. Everyone knows you dont become a nurse to get rich, yet they seem to be flabbergasted when they are in the job at the wages!

[jno]

I'm pretty sure I read recently that the average pay for a graduate is �23,000

[johnny37]

�23000 is the average. There are many graduates who dont get anywhere near that and due to the number of graduates on the market because of the governments 50% target. A vast number are having to take jpbs that you dont need a degree for. They dont get benefits like public sector pensions either. I know of one music graduate who had to work for an arts charity for free for six months before they took him on at �15000. He is now teaching and believe me that is every bit as stressful as nurses work, if not more (dont believe the holidays argument - he has to work most of that as well as up to three hours a day marking assessing and reporting).

Can anyone answer my question earlier - how much does a nurse earn who has been in the profession for ten years including add-ons for specialist knowledge plus overtime and maybe extras like agency work?

[bednobs]

lol you dont get overtime in the nhs ...
anyway, there is no "average wage" for someone who has been a nurse for 10 years, because it dpends how ambitious you are. You could still be a band 5 nurse (same band as a recen graduate nurse), or you might have gon on to be a senior sister level (band 7) earning 35000 a year, depending what job you're in. One of the strange things about the profession is that as you go up in wages, sometimes you actually get less, for example a ward sister might not work evenings/weekends/nights, therefore dosent get unsocial hours pay, and even if they do, you only get the unsocial bit paid at a lower band than you actually are. if you are a top nurse consultant, you might earn up to about 80 000 a year. you can look at the payscales on the RCN website